Due to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19, the MHS is CLOSED until further notice. Library staff is monitoring e-mails and voicemails. Please check our calendar for programming updates. [[ ]]

Building Closed MHS closed1 May 2020.Friday, all dayDue to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) and out of an ...

Due to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) and out of an abundance of caution, the MHS is CLOSED until further notice. Please check the online calendar for programming updates. Library staff will monitor e-mails and voicemails.

Abram Van Engen shows how the phrase “City on a hill,” from a 1630 sermon by Massachusetts Bay governor John Winthrop, shaped the story of American exceptionalism in the 20th century. By tracing the strange history of Winthrop’s speech, from total obscurity in its own day to pervasive use in modern politics, Van Engen reveals the way national stories take shape and shows us how those tales continue to influence competing visions of the country—the many different meanings of America that emerge from a preservation of its literary past.

Please note, this is an online event. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the event. Order the book online!

Building Closed MHS closed2 May 2020.Saturday, all dayDue to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) and out of an ...

Due to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) and out of an abundance of caution, the MHS is CLOSED until further notice. Please check the online calendar for programming updates. Library staff will monitor e-mails and voicemails.

Public Program, Online Event Plymouth & the Pilgrims, A Virtual Tour8 May 2020.Friday, 2:00PM - 3:00PMThis is an online event. This program is now at capacity, registration is closed.Jonathan Lane, Revolution 2502020 is the 400th Anniversary of the settlement of Plymouth Colony. Thanks to modern technology we ...

2020 is the 400th Anniversary of the settlement of Plymouth Colony. Thanks to modern technology we can take a tour of the original settlement without leaving our armchair! Using a Google tour, we will examine the resources and topography that convinced the Mayflower passengers to build their settlement in Plymouth. We will learn how that site aided in building a rapport with the indigenous peoples. We will discuss why their decision to settle in Plymouth ultimately doomed Plymouth as an independent colony and why the Pilgrim story still remains an iconic part of American history.

Please note, this is an online event. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the event.

Author Talk, Conversation, Online Event The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality in America, 1600-187014 May 2020.Thursday, 5:30PM - 6:30PMThis is an online programDaniel R. Mandell, Truman State University, in conversation with Liz Covart, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and CultureAlthough Americans today are concerned about the ever-increasing levels of wealth and income ...

Although Americans today are concerned about the ever-increasing levels of wealth and income inequality, many continue to believe that their country was founded on a person’s right to acquire and control property. But The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality argues that the US was originally deeply influenced by the belief that maintaining a “rough” equality of wealth was essential for a successful republican government. Author Daniel Mandell and Liz Covart will discuss Mandell's new book which explores this tradition from its English roots through Reconstruction.

Public Program, Online Event Misled: A Virtual Tour of Inaccurate Historical Markers20 May 2020.Wednesday, 5:30PM - 6:30PMThis is an online event. This program is now at capacity, registration is closedGavin Kleespies, MHSHistorical markers influence what and who we remember, but sometimes they aren't quite what that ...

Historical markers influence what and who we remember, but sometimes they aren't quite what that appear. Some are just wrong. Even in a city like Cambridge, Massachusetts, a place known world-wide as a home to rigorous scholarship, misleading and inaccurate historical markers can be found. While these markers don't always reflect the whole truth, sometimes the stories they tell offer important lessons about who gets to shape history.

This virtual tour will be presented by Gavin Kleespies, the Director of Programs, Exhibitions, and Community Partnerships at the MHS and will explore Cambridge's strange patchwork of unreliable markers including “mimic” houses, mislabeled trees and even a fake rock.

Please note, this is an online program. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the event.

Author Talk, Online Event Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington27 May 2020.Wednesday, 5:30PM - 6:30PMThis is an online program.Ted Widmer, Macaulay Honors College (CUNY)Historian and MHS Trustee,Ted Widmer presents his new book, Lincoln on the Verge, an ...

Historian and MHS Trustee,Ted Widmer presents his new book, Lincoln on the Verge, an account of the Great Emancipator’s two-week journey to Washington as President-Elect and the deeply uncertain and perilous future he faced on his way to take the oath of office.

The government Lincoln was about to inherit was bankrupt and on the verge of collapse. To make matters worse, reliable intelligence confirmed a conspiracy to assassinate him as he passed through Baltimore. It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of the Republic hung in the balance as Southerners vowed to prevent Lincoln’s inauguration by any means necessary. Drawing on new research, including extensive work in the MHS archives, this account reveals Lincoln as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, foiling an assassination attempt, and forging an unbreakable bond with the American people.

Please note, this is an online event. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the program. Order the book here!

Due to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) and out of an abundance of caution, the MHS is CLOSED until further notice. Please check the online calendar for programming updates. Library staff will monitor e-mails and voicemails.

Author Talk, Online EventVirtual Book Talk: City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism1 May 2020.Friday, 2:00PM - 3:00PMThis is an online programAbram Van Engen, Washington University in St. Louis

Abram Van Engen shows how the phrase “City on a hill,” from a 1630 sermon by Massachusetts Bay governor John Winthrop, shaped the story of American exceptionalism in the 20th century. By tracing the strange history of Winthrop’s speech, from total obscurity in its own day to pervasive use in modern politics, Van Engen reveals the way national stories take shape and shows us how those tales continue to influence competing visions of the country—the many different meanings of America that emerge from a preservation of its literary past.

Please note, this is an online event. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the event. Order the book online!

Due to the state of emergency in Massachusetts regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus) and out of an abundance of caution, the MHS is CLOSED until further notice. Please check the online calendar for programming updates. Library staff will monitor e-mails and voicemails.

Public Program, Online EventPlymouth & the Pilgrims, A Virtual Tour8 May 2020.Friday, 2:00PM - 3:00PMThis is an online event. This program is now at capacity, registration is closed.Jonathan Lane, Revolution 250

2020 is the 400th Anniversary of the settlement of Plymouth Colony. Thanks to modern technology we can take a tour of the original settlement without leaving our armchair! Using a Google tour, we will examine the resources and topography that convinced the Mayflower passengers to build their settlement in Plymouth. We will learn how that site aided in building a rapport with the indigenous peoples. We will discuss why their decision to settle in Plymouth ultimately doomed Plymouth as an independent colony and why the Pilgrim story still remains an iconic part of American history.

Please note, this is an online event. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the event.

Author Talk, Conversation, Online EventThe Lost Tradition of Economic Equality in America, 1600-187014 May 2020.Thursday, 5:30PM - 6:30PMThis is an online programDaniel R. Mandell, Truman State University, in conversation with Liz Covart, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture

Watch the recording of this event, embedded below:

Although Americans today are concerned about the ever-increasing levels of wealth and income inequality, many continue to believe that their country was founded on a person’s right to acquire and control property. But The Lost Tradition of Economic Equality argues that the US was originally deeply influenced by the belief that maintaining a “rough” equality of wealth was essential for a successful republican government. Author Daniel Mandell and Liz Covart will discuss Mandell's new book which explores this tradition from its English roots through Reconstruction.

Public Program, Online EventMisled: A Virtual Tour of Inaccurate Historical Markers20 May 2020.Wednesday, 5:30PM - 6:30PMThis is an online event. This program is now at capacity, registration is closedGavin Kleespies, MHS

Watch the recording of this event, embedded below:

Historical markers influence what and who we remember, but sometimes they aren't quite what that appear. Some are just wrong. Even in a city like Cambridge, Massachusetts, a place known world-wide as a home to rigorous scholarship, misleading and inaccurate historical markers can be found. While these markers don't always reflect the whole truth, sometimes the stories they tell offer important lessons about who gets to shape history.

This virtual tour will be presented by Gavin Kleespies, the Director of Programs, Exhibitions, and Community Partnerships at the MHS and will explore Cambridge's strange patchwork of unreliable markers including “mimic” houses, mislabeled trees and even a fake rock.

Please note, this is an online program. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the event.

Author Talk, Online EventLincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington27 May 2020.Wednesday, 5:30PM - 6:30PMThis is an online program.Ted Widmer, Macaulay Honors College (CUNY)

Watch the recording of this event, embedded below:

Historian and MHS Trustee,Ted Widmer presents his new book, Lincoln on the Verge, an account of the Great Emancipator’s two-week journey to Washington as President-Elect and the deeply uncertain and perilous future he faced on his way to take the oath of office.

The government Lincoln was about to inherit was bankrupt and on the verge of collapse. To make matters worse, reliable intelligence confirmed a conspiracy to assassinate him as he passed through Baltimore. It is no exaggeration to say that the fate of the Republic hung in the balance as Southerners vowed to prevent Lincoln’s inauguration by any means necessary. Drawing on new research, including extensive work in the MHS archives, this account reveals Lincoln as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, foiling an assassination attempt, and forging an unbreakable bond with the American people.

Please note, this is an online event. Registrants will receive an email with links and instructions on how to join the program. Order the book here!